Gorman's homework pays off with go-ahead pinch-hit homer

BOSTON -- Some four innings before he would come up and hit the biggest home run of his young Cardinals career, slugger Nolan Gorman was already stalking potential late-game spots in which he might make an impact as he was taking swings in a cramped, makeshift batting cage in the guts of Fenway Park.

Gorman didn’t start on Friday against Red Sox left-hander James Paxton -- a scenario St. Louis hopes to eliminate in due time -- but he certainly found a way to leave his powerful imprint all over the Cardinals’ most exhilarating victory of the season.

Warm from his many sessions in the batting cage over the game’s final four innings and aware from studying Red Sox reliever Kenley Jansen from the on-deck circle, Gorman hit a go-ahead, pinch-hit two-run homer to send the Cardinals to an 8-6 victory. Getting himself ready -- from locking in with his mid-game BP sessions to studying the scouting report on Jansen -- had Gorman ready to seize the moment and smash the Cardinals’ first pinch-hit home run of the season.

“I think the biggest thing is making sure you’re ready before they even call your name, so I go down there [to the batting cage] anywhere from the third to the fifth inning and make sure my body is good. And then just lock in on the pitchers that might be coming in,” said Gorman, who hit his team-high ninth home run. “I have to go down there [to the batting cage] and make sure everything is moving right and make sure I can perform well in the game.”

Gorman’s smash was part of a 14-hit attack that allowed the Cardinals to win an opener for the second straight series. That streak, of course, came on the heels of St. Louis dropping a franchise-worst 11 series openers to begin the season. The Cards, who came into the night 1-8 in one-run games, trailed 4-2 and 6-5, and each time they responded with three-run innings.

“I mean, that was a really good win,” said superstar third baseman Nolan Arenado, whose four hits included a 107.8 mph two-run homer and a line-drive scorcher that banged off The Green Monster. “They scored a lot of runs, but we kept fighting as an offense. Paxton is a really good pitcher, and we still found a way to score eight runs, so that’s pretty dang good.”

Distancing themselves from the eight-game losing streak that threatened to ruin their season by early May, the Cardinals have responded by winning four of their last five games to buoy hopes.

“These guys are playing with some confidence, they’re trusting in each other and it’s paying off,” said manager Oliver Marmol, whose Cardinals also got an opposite-field home run from Willson Contreras and a three-hit night from Paul Goldschmidt. “We’re seeing really good competition. Our back was to the wall for quite some time, but they’re trusting in one another. They’re playing loose and it’s fun to watch.”

Marmol had plenty of fun watching Gorman, who is easily the Cardinals’ most improved player this season considering that his late-season struggles in 2022 resulted in him getting demoted to Triple-A Memphis. Marmol was asked repeatedly before the game about whether he sees a scenario in which the left-handed Gorman can be the type of everyday hitter who starts against lefty pitchers. He didn’t start on Friday, but he had the biggest swat of the night against Jansen, who recently recorded the 400th save of his career.

Said Marmol: “We could give him that shot against lefties, and he’ll have that opportunity [in the future]. But also, it’s a nice weapon to have to insert him whenever needed. Today was an example to come in there and take a big swing for us.”

Even though Jansen started him off with a 95.5 mph cutter and a 96.2 sinker, Gorman was looking for an off-speed pitch on the 3-2 offering that he hit 400 feet, because of a tell he picked up earlier in the at-bat. He laid off the sinker, a slider and a cutter to run the count full, and looked for the slider because Jansen had been having trouble locating his fastball for strikes.

When the big moment came, Gorman was ready -- all because of his prep work in the cage and doing his homework on Boston’s closer.

“He wasn’t really throwing that cutter for strikes, so he was relying on sinkers and cutters and on the 3-2 pitch I was just trying to be on time there,” Gorman said. “He’s got a bunch of different deliveries and he [fooled] me a couple of times [earlier in the at-bat]. I just wanted to be on time and get a pitch I could drive.”